Shattered glass
by Construct Master
Summary: A Trio Of Spartans Is Sent To Deploy A Targeting Beacon In The Middle Of A Massive Battle. Rated T for typical Halo violence, no profanity. Oneshot.


**Note: Most of my stories originate as writing assignments for school that i set in the Halo universe. This is one such story, and i figured it was good enough for this site! Pls Review!**

Setting: A Massive-scale battle between the Covenant and UNSC

Plasma and bullets were flying everywhere. The battlefield on the remote planet was alight as Covenant and humans fought it out. Scorpions were blasting shells like they were starting an apocalypse. Rockets from Hogs, Rocket launchers, and Wolverines pulverized Covenant Ghosts and Banshees. Pelican Gunships shot down Banshee after Banshee. Cobras stationed a short distance away provided fire support. Across the battlefield, a few lone Mammoths simply rolled over anything in their way, while the MAC Cannon on board tore through Phantoms.

The Covenant were putting up an equal fight. Ghosts ran amok through UNSC forces, taking out what they could before a Warthog or Scorpion noticed. Wraiths rained hell in the form of plasma mortars. Locusts fired their lasers to the point of nearly overheating. Phantoms flew overhead, with the bay doors open and Elites firing heavy weapons from above. A trio of Scarabs crushed the opposition.

Amidst the chaos of plasma and shells, a Gauss hog drove through the Scorpion firing lines. Operated by a trio of Spartans, it's cannon was firing bullet after bullet, tearing through ghosts and wraiths as they tried to get past.

"THIS IS INSANE!" Yelled the gunner, a Spartan clad in RECRUIT armor and a STRIDER helmet. His name was Michael Helms. A Spartan-IV with 3 years of experience as a Marine, then 1 as a Spartan, he had been in tough battles before, but never anything on this scale.

"Agreed. Don't think there's been a ground battle on this scale for years," said the driver. Jude Tomsell, an ORBITAL-Wearing Spartan, had been a Marine for 2 years before joining the SPARTAN-IV Program. In all those years, he had always been the driver. He swerved to avoid crashing into a Ghost, giving Michael the angle he needed to blast it to pieces.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get OUT of here!" Shouted the final occupant. Wearing RECRUIT Armor and shouldering a Rocket Launcher, he fired at a Wraith. This Spartan was named Wayne Dominic, and was the newest Spartan in the hog. Still, he was a competent fighter, but preferred more focused missions to large-scale warfare.

The Spartans had been dispatched to lay a Targeting beacon in the middle of the Covenant forces. If this beacon was placed, then a UNSC Frigate would drop a nuke, ending the fight. Right now, though, they had their work cut out for them.

As they drove by, a Scarab suddenly was hit in the leg, crippling it. The crippling round, fired by a Mammoth, was enough to send the battle platform crashing to the ground. This really was insane.

They were almost behind the Covenant lines when a wraith noticed them, and fired. The mortar missed, but sent the hog flying out of control. It landed heavily, and the occupants fell out. They quickly scrambled to find some cover, and found it in the form of a small cave in the planet's surface.

"Well, this is great. Stuck behind enemy lines in a cave, while the Covenant blast whatever they can," said Michael.

"Don't worry, according to my armor's tracking, we're almost where we need to be," Responded Jude. "I suggest we wait a minute, then make a dash."

Wayne sat back against the wall, thinking. They weren't leaving yet, and the war going on outside reminded him of the reason he joined the Spartans in the first place…

(10 Years ago, UNSC Colony.)

They destroyed everything. Disintegrated it with plasma, killing anything in their way. The Covenant invasion a day ago shocked the colony, but only so much. They were already on the warpath, it was only a matter of time before the place was found. And when the Covies found it, they destroyed it.

They destroyed everything. My family took precautions when they heard the Covenant annihilated Harvest, and bought a Civilian-based Warthog, planned multiple escape routes to the UNSC Outpost, and shared them with our neighbors. Some took this seriously, while others just laughed. Would they be laughing when the aliens DID attack?

They destroyed everything. Some escaped, including my family, but not all of my friends. The Covenant burned whoever they could with plasma. While our family and the ones who listened watched from the windows of the evacuation craft, the Covenant unleashed a beam from a cruiser. This beam…. Turned everything…_everything_….to glass… a fine, planet-encompassing sheet of glass, made from the dust of our home, and burned in the Covenant's cruel smeltery. And on that day, I vowed I would avenge this colony.

They destroyed everything. Turned it to glass. And it's time they payed.

"Okay, let's move." Jude was ready to go again, as was the rest of the team. They peeked out over the edge, and saw the same chaos as before. But this time, the Covenant seemed excited. The humans were falling back!

"Looks like time's running out. Let's go!" said Wayne.

"Ok, see that Scarab?" Said Jude. The walker he was referring to looked modified, with a sort of pylon instead of an anti-air gun. Rather than standing at full height, it had lowered itself to the ground to avoid notice behind the waves of Covenant. "Looks like that's the command center. We get the Beacon planted there, and BOOM!"

The hog they had been unceremoniously dumped out of was still intact, seemingly ignored. The trio dashed to it, righted the vehicle, and jumped in. In seconds, they were driving full speed at the command center. Michael readied the beacon in the side seat, and as the hog passed by the command centre, tossed it UNDER the scarab's belly.

By now, they had been noticed, and as the sped away, they were pursued by 3 ghosts and a phantom. The Ghosts had to use boost to keep up with the hog, which was modified for speed runs, rendering their weapons useless. The phantom, however, had no such problem, and started firing at the getaway Hog. Thankfully, they were driving away from the battle, and there were few forces in this area.

Michael swiveled around and started launching slug after slug into the phantom, targeting its guns. A minute later, they were neutralized. Another 30 seconds, and the phantom blew apart, unable to survive the sustained fire. He then turned his attention to the ghosts. "How long till minimum safe distance?!" he shouted.

"Not long, another mile or so!" responded Wayne. He fired another rocket, leaving one of their pursuers in smoldering ruins. After 2 minutes, they pulled to a stop, and radioed command.

"Command, this is Beacon Delivery Beta," said Jude. "The beacon's placed, hostiles in our area are neutralized, and we're at a safe distance. Send us some evac and fire away."

"Confirmed, Nav Beta. Evac ETA 120 seconds." Overhead, a frigate cruised a mile above the trio, and a pelican popped out from the inside, headed toward their position. As they boarded, they watched as the frigate dropped a bomb on the battlefield, now almost devoid of the now-evacuated UNSC. Before their eyes, the previously-jubilant Covenant was sucked into the mushroom cloud, doomed to be shattered.

Shattered Like Glass.


End file.
